Project Yellow

The Desert Road stretch of State Highway 1 running through the Central Plateau provides expansive vistas of three spectacular mountains as well as of unique mix of tussock and forest, making the drive a truly memorable experience.

Sadly, the view and, even worse, the integrity of the fragile ecosystem that attracts trampers, hunters and photographers is being threatened by the increase in abundance and spread of invasive exotic plants. The yellow peril of gorse, lupin and broom are on the way to reaching a critical mass that will permanently modify this landscape.

These plants change the fertility of the naturally nutrient poor soils, encouraging other introduced plants and grasses and thereby compounding the problem. Broom produces chemicals that prevent native seedlings establishing and then forms dense thickets able to shade out all other regenerating plants. This can occur from the road edge right to the snow line. Imagine a white mountain sticking out through a sea of yellow weeds?

To arrest this spread and protect this magnificent place, a collective of the organisations that manage land in a 23,000-hectare chunk of the plateau are working together.

Known as the Desert Rd Invasive Legume Control Group, their mission statement is:

“The unique natural values and vistas of the Desert Road environments are preserved.”

To achieve this mission, the Desert Rd Invasive Legume Control Group has created a Memorandum of Understanding to guide planning and operations over the next 10 years. The group’s core intent is:

• co-operation to achieve – between all stakeholders
• introduced legumes are eradicated
• monitoring – to ensure success
• advocacy – to engage more stakeholders
• pathway management – to protect the asset of what’s been controlled.